On the heals of a dark and bizarre U.S. presidential debate the other night, and the seemingly endless campaign (thankfully) coming to a close in exactly four weeks, we thought it fitting to take a look at artwork with world leaders as subject matter. This is, of course, not regal portraiture hung in the Smithsonian in gilded frames. Israeli illustrator/designer/artist Amit Shimoni’s Hipstory series reimagines world leaders (wanna-be and actual), past and present, is hipsters from all walks of life, complete with piercings, facial hair, and all sorts of hairdos. We appreciate that Simoni’s work (for sale here) is free of political agenda, but rather casts these larger-than-life figures in a new, fresh light. Simply fun and a bit thought-provoking.

There’s an old adage that states “less is more.” And that maxim certainly holds true for this minimalist icon set developed for Schick. There was a notion in the Philippines that Schick was a female brand because of their popular line of lady razors, so the Manila branch of marketing and advertising giant J. Walter Thompson developed this slick set of graphic posters to combat that misperception. These fantastically bold graphics, by the team at JWT Manila, feature recognizable historical and pop culture figures with distinct facial hair (Mr. T from The A-Team, V from V for Vendetta, Salvador Dali, Groucho Marx and Charlie Chaplin) that one can achieve using Schick razors. We love how the product is seamlessly integrated into the designs. There’s certainly market research and number crunching that goes into how and where to market with visuals like these, but we don’t see why a campaign like this wouldn’t be effective here in the US. There seems to be a sort of facial hair renaissance happening right now, and aggressively bold visuals like these would be hard to miss.